


Dangerous Loss of Altitude

by misura



Category: Breaking Sky - Cori McCarthy
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-14 23:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16922799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "I'm thinking about quitting," Leah said, and Chase nearly fell out of bed.





	Dangerous Loss of Altitude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [snowcheetah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowcheetah/gifts).



"I'm thinking about quitting," Sylph said, and Chase nearly fell out of bed.

The two of them were in their room. Chase in the top bed, Sylph in the bottom. Chase had assumed that they were going to go to sleep after a hard day's work of trying to teach a group of babies how to do what came as natural as breathing to Chase by now: flying a Streaker.

In reality, of course, the new students weren't babies. They were only a few years younger than Chase, about the same age Chase had been when she'd come here herself.

They _looked_ like babies, though. Some of them even sounded like babies. Whine, whine, whine.

Chase could understand that now that the government had decided to fund a fleet of Streakers, the selection criteria weren't as high anymore, but still. Surely there were lots and lots of kids wanting to help protect their country and get to fly the fastest airplane ever built at the same time?

Surely they could do better?

"Chase?" Sylph - Leah asked, and Chase realized that she'd let herself get side-tracked.

Maybe that was because she didn't really want to talk about Leah quitting. Sure, they still weren't what Chase would call bosom buddies, but over the past year, they had definitely become friends.

If Chase had overheard anyone in the rec room that Leah was thinking about quitting, she'd have invited them to say that again to her face. Wearing boxing gloves.

"Why?" That single word felt like about all she could manage.

The only thing Chase could imagine that would be worse than Leah quitting would be Tristan quitting, and Tristan quitting seemed about as likely, or rather, as unlikely, as Chase quitting herself.

Chase _lived_ for flying. She couldn't imagine anything better. And yet here Leah was, calmly talking about giving it all up.

"Me and Liam - we want to settle down. Start a family, maybe," Leah said.

 _So why would you need to give up_ Pegasus _to do that?_ Chase wanted to ask. She supposed that she could see why putting a pregnant pilot in a Streaker wouldn't be a good idea, but -

"And I like teaching better, anyway," Leah added, but Chase could tell by her tone that this was a lie, something Leah was trying to make both Chase and herself believe even though it wasn't true. "You should be happy, Chase. If I switch to teaching full-time, that'll mean you get to fly more."

"Oh, right. So you're doing it for me," Chase said, her tone as sarcastic as she could make it. "That's so sweet. I didn't realize you loved me that much. Maybe you should get married to me, instead of to Liam, if that's how you feel."

Leah tried to hit her in the face with a pillow, but Chase saw it coming miles away and dodged easily.

"I'm just saying, you could look at the bright side."

"Like no longer having you around to slow down the rest of us isn't enough of a bright side?" Leah would never be as fast as Chase herself, or Tristan. That didn't mean she wasn't a good pilot, or that Chase hadn't grown used to having her around, to watch her back.

 _She's saved my life at least as many times as I've saved hers._ It wouldn't be the same, to fly with someone else piloting _Pegasus_. It would be like flying without Pippin had been, those first few weeks. Chase had kept expecting to hear his voice, to see his face.

Instead, every time Starling had talked to her, Chase had been reminded of Pippin's death. She'd hated it. She'd tried not to take it out on Starling. To be fair. To give the girl a chance to prove herself as Nyx's RIO, even though Chase already knew that no one would ever be able to take Pippin's place.

You couldn't simply replace someone like Pippin. It was impossible.

True, Chase didn't feel about Leah the way she'd felt about Pippin, not even remotely. Still.

"There. See?" Leah said. Clearly, she didn't have a clue what Chase had been thinking about. "This is good news for you. Anyway, it's my own decision. My own choice. It's got nothing to do with you."

"Well, all right then. Thanks for the news bulletin, I guess. Can I go to sleep now?" She'd sound out Riot tomorrow, Chase decided. And maybe Tristan, too, even if he and Leah weren't that close.

"Sure, Chase. Good night. Sweet dreams."

 _I hope you dream of how great it feels to fly,_ Chase thought. _I hope you dream of everything it took to get you here. I hope you wake up tomorrow morning and realize that quitting was a crazy idea._ It wouldn't happen the way, of course.

Chase lay awake, staring up at the ceiling, wondering how she was going to change Leah's mind. Once she'd quit, if Leah changed her mind, would they even let her back in, now that there were plenty of pilots being trained? And Leah _would_ change her mind, Chase was sure of it.

"I'm scared," Leah whispered. "I'm just so scared, Chase."

If Leah'd followed up the statement with another pillow to the face, Chase would have been too stunned to dodge. _Scared?_ Sure, there'd been a few close brushes. Ri Xong Di had no intention of sitting by doing nothing while the new Streakers took on their fleets of red drones.

People had gotten hurt. Thus far, no Streaker had fallen into the hands of the enemy intact, with its crew still alive to be tortured and provide even more information that the plane itself would.

So some people had gotten worse than hurt. Like Pippin. People had _died_. And if this war kept going the way it was, only an idiot wouldn't expect more people to die before the end.

It was the Streakers pilots's job to make sure those people weren't innocent civilians. To risk their own lives in order to make sure that everyone else was safe. To keep showing Ri Xong Di that their days of ruling the skies were over and force them to the negotiation table again and again.

Chase was as committed to that goal as anyone at the Star. Including Leah.

"You're not scared!" Chase said. She had to believe that. "What are you talking about? Slow and stupid, sure. Terrible taste in boys, no argument there. But a coward? Come on."

"I can't - " Leah started. Her voice sounded choked. "These new pilots, they're not like you and Arrow."

"You should be thrilled," Chase said, though she felt that she was beginning to understand. Leah wasn't scared for herself. And, most of the time, Leah knew damn well that Chase and Tristan were able to take care of themselves just fine.

It was the new pilots that were the problem. The students. They weren't ready.

Oh, some of them were talented, and quick to pick up the controls. But training to become a pilot took time, and now that the secret of the existence of the Streakers was out, time was the one thing they didn't have. To push their advantage, the Streakers needed to be up in the air and flying _now_.

"You always tell me I'm slow," Leah said. "What if I'm up there and I need to save someone and I'm too slow? What if they get shot down? I'm not - it should be you and Arrow up there. You're fast. You wouldn't be too slow. You'd keep them safe."

"Would I?" Chase would try. In a way though, she faced the same problem Leah did. For a long time, she'd been up there all by herself. She'd gotten used to there being only two Streakers - and then there'd turned out to be a third one. That hadn't been so bad.

Chase loved flying with Tristan in a way she knew she'd never, quite, enjoy flying with Leah.

But these new pilots? They were still learning. They were clumsy. Chase knew that if it came down to a fight, she wouldn't entirely trust them to have her back as she'd trust Tristan.

One day, that might be a problem.

If Leah really did quit, that day might come a lot sooner than Chase had expected. The military weren't stupid, after all. They knew the students weren't ready. They weren't about to risk multi-billion dollar airplanes crashing because their pilots didn't know what they were doing.

So whenever it was possible, whenever it looked like a mission might turn into a fight, they sent the three pilots with experience, who'd finished their training.

If one of those pilots quit, they'd have to be replaced. Two Streakers weren't enough, not with Ri Xong Di gunning for them.

Chase sighed. Unlike Leah, she didn't much enjoy being an instructor. She didn't have the patience to explain something again and again. Chase preferred to be up there, in the sky. Thus, an afternoon of playing instructor had left her drained. She wanted to sleep. She needed to get some rest.

However, Leah needed to get a pillow smack in the face more, and it appeared Chase was the only person around to provide it.

Leah took it like a champ, or possibly like a chump. Chase wasn't sure.

"Let's get together with Tristan tomorrow."

"I'm not sure if Liam would approve of me having a threesome that doesn't include him," Leah said.

 _Like I'd be willing to share Tristan with anyone_ that _way._ Well, maybe. If Tristan really, really wanted it. "To _talk_."

"All right," Leah said. She sounded shaky, but determined. Better. "Thanks, Chase."

"Wow. I must be asleep already and dreaming."

"You are," Leah said. "So you'd better not tell anyone else about this conversation."

"Don't make me come down there and hug you."


End file.
